Critérium du Dauphiné: Untouchable Vingegaard moves into yellow with stage 5 solo win

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) provided an ominous warning sign for his Tour de France rivals with a calculating and comprehensive win on stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The reigning Tour champion attacked alongside Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) on the final climb of the Côte de Thésy before dropping the Olympic champion before the summit, and then soloing clear with 15km to go.

A rather futile, and at times half-hearted chase from the remnants of the GC group ensured that Vingegaard was more than good enough to seal the win in Salins-les-Bains and move into the yellow jersey.

Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick Step) had attempted to match Carapaz and Vingegaard with their attack on the last climb but he was distanced almost immediately. However, the Frenchman was able to finish second on the stage, leading home a group that included Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën), 31 seconds down on Vingegaard.

With the key mountain stages still to come Vingegaard holds an advantage of 1:23 over Alaphilippe, with O’Connor a further second in arrears. While the advantage may not seem insurmountable at this point in the race, especially with the most difficult terrain still to come, the ease with which Vingegaard distanced the field and won without any threat to his lead will have his main GC rivals wondering if the yellow jersey is already out of reach.

There were signs of life from Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) who briefly attacked from the chase group before the finish, while overnight leader Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) suffered a crash at the foot of the final climb and lost his yellow jersey.

“I didn’t want to attack today. I just wanted to defend myself. Then they attacked and I was working with Richard but then he couldn’t follow anymore,” Vingegaard said at the finish.

“Of course, I’m very happy with the win today but I think on a day like today, with what happened in Annecy today, cycling doesn’t really matter. My thoughts are with all the families,” the visibly shaken Dane added, as he referenced an attack in the French city that left several children with serious injuries.

The stage had been marked by a powerful sextet breaking clear once the race left Cormoranche-sur-Saône. Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Dstny), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X), Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Leon Heinschke (Team DSM) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) raced clear, and quickly established a lead of around four minutes.With 46km to go the gap still held at just under three minutes, despite the best efforts from Soudal Quick Step and UAE Team Emirates.

The yellow jersey team dropped back once the gap dipped under the three minute mark with Bahrain-Victorious and EF Education-EasyPost willing replacements.

Despite the immense firepower up front the leaders began to fragment on the final climb of the Côte de Thésy with EF turning the screw in a bid to launch Carapaz up the road.

Alaphilippe and Carapaz moved clear with Vingegaard in hot pursuit before the trio began cutting through what was left of the break before Alaphilippe was forced to lead once Carapaz stamped on the pedals for a second time.At first Vingegaard appeared reluctant to give Carapaz a turn, even with the gap to the rest at 20 seconds, but with 1.8km left of the climb the Dane took charge before dropping his companion soon after.

UAE Team Emirates and Trek-Segafredo attempted to muster a chase at the head of the chasing peloton but a lack of cohesion, coupled with Vingegaard’s dominance, effectively ended the stage with several kilometres still remaining.